I became interested in building a melonseed sailboat at
the MASCF in the fall of 2010. At the time I was sailing my small 15 ft. canoe
and finding that it really wasn’t big enough for my size. I’m 6’ 4” and weigh
anywhere from 260 -270. During the festival I met Mike Wick and several others
that had Melonseeds and we started to talk and discuss the options of one style
of small sailboat over another. On
reviewing my garage’s length vs. width and the storage requirement for my
woodworking business I decided the Melonseed was perfect for me. I could build
the boat in the space that I used for my van and still have sufficient room to get
in and out of my woodworking shop. So after hemming and hawing, reading reviews
on the internet and talking to friends I ordered the plans for the 16 foot
Melonseed designed by Mike Barto from the Wooden Boat School’s store. They
arrived on January 12, 2011.
